


More Than Attraction

by Potato_Alchemist



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi, One Night Stands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-19 23:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11908011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potato_Alchemist/pseuds/Potato_Alchemist
Summary: Maybe they were staring at Alma or Allen, or maybe they were staring at Link. And maybe it was supposed to be one night, or maybe it could be more.





	More Than Attraction

The last place Link expected to be on a Friday night was sitting in a bar, staring at the red light glinting off the smooth surface of the table they were sitting at.

“I can just feel the happiness,” Alma commented, placing their drinks on the table with a soft clinking sound.

In front of Link sat a short glass filled with a bubbly liquid and a few maraschino cherries. He stared at it for a few moments, watching the way the light reflected off the clear surface of the liquid.

“What is this?”

Allen’s hand reached out and picked up the glass. Link heard a few sniffs and wondered how far Allen’s nose had gotten into the drink he still didn’t know if he wanted. “Sprite,” Allen said, placing the glass down on the table.

Link fitted his hand around the marks Allen’s had made. For a moment he held it against the cold glass, slipping his fingertips across the condensation.

“Alma, get your tongue out of my whip cream,” Allen whined, glass sliding against the table.

With a sigh accompanied by the sound of Alma’s tongue clicking against his lips, Link picked up his glass and pressed it to his lips. A tentative sip slipped into his mouth, but once he realized that it was indeed sprite with a subtle cherry flavor, he drank half the glass without much thought.

“You’re being stared at,” Allen muttered.

“It’s probably you or Alma’s whose being stared at,” Link said, setting the glass back down, tongue still tingling from the bubbles.

“No, no, they’re totally staring at you,” Alma confirmed, voice pitched in a way that filled Link with a sense of dread.

“They?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the cherries sitting on the ice of his drink.

“Yeah, two of them. Not my type but attractive nonetheless,” Allen said, teeth squeaking against his straw periodically.

“I’m pretty sure your type is tall redheads,” Alma said.

“Yes, I am in fact attracted to my boyfriend.”

With the conversation migrating away from the people who were likely not staring at Link, he felt his body relaxing and his eyes traveled upwards. He caught sight of the two people staring at him, only getting a vague look at their eyes in the dim lighting before his own eyes shot back down to the table, heart rate picking up.

“See a ghost?” Tyki asked.

Link didn’t dare look back up, but he allowed his eyes to wander a bit to the left so he could see that Tyki was standing at their table.

“Yes, your bar is haunted because you had the audacity to name it _Noah’s Ark_ ,” Allen said, a smile lacing his words. Picturing that sweet smile he knew so well was enough to slow Link’s heart, leaving only the lingering adrenaline to race through his chest.

“Good,” Tyki said, placing another drink identical to his first in front of Link. “The two people staring at you sent this over. The one with the short hair has a slight German accent that I think you’ll take quite the liking to.”

Before Link’s mind could think too much about his name once again being said with the warmth of a German accent wrapped around it, Allen cut in with, “I love when Lavi gets really pissed off and he gets a hint of an Irish accent.” For the first time since Allen had picked his glass up, Link heard it get set down on the table.

“One time, Yuu and I had this huge fight where he was yelling in Japanese and I was yelling in Chinese.” Alma paused to laughed. “I don’t know what he was mad about or what he said, but it was really hot.”

Link glanced up and saw that Alma was leaning back in his chair, a dreamy look in his eyes. But out of the corner of his eye, Link could see that he was still being stared at, view partially blocked by Tyki.

Alma glanced over his shoulder. “Oh,” he breathed, looking back at Link, a smile on his lips. “We had multivariable calc with them sophomore year.”

Alma’s words brought up memories of a cold, brightly lit room, and the harsh scent of whiteboard markers, but nothing about the two people staring at him.

“They sat behind us,” Alma added, still smiling as he picked up his mostly empty glass of pink Moscato.

Before Link could defend himself, he heard the crinkling of plastic. He felt Tyki’s hand pick up his own and place a stack of small, square packages on his now open palm.

It wasn’t until he heard Allen snort and he saw Alma set his glass down, looking at Allen, that he realized what it was,

“Did you just place condoms in my hand?"

Tyki curled his fingers down before letting go, and Link felt the sharp edges pressing into his skin. “Yep. Have a nice time.”

As Tyki left, Link looked back down at the table. He tightened his grip around the condoms, plastic bending under the force, as he wondered if he should keep them.

“I’d say do it. You’re about to be a senior in college and you’ve never done anything like this, so do it for the experience.”

“Walker,” Link began, keeping his voice as steady as he could despite the foreign feeling in his stomach, “you’re seventeen. In what way are you qualified to be giving this kind of advice?”

“According to my fake ID, I’m four days older than you. And,” Allen cleared his throat, the hints of a laugh slipping in, “they’re coming over here, so it doesn’t matter what I think anyway.”

The strange feeling in his stomach got stronger, mixing with the familiar feeling of nausea. He looked up at his friends and saw that they were smiling as they stood up.

“Just find out what they want, but don’t be too obvious about it,” Alma said under his breath as he left.

“You’ve been dating the same person for the past five years,” Link mumbled, shoving the now sweaty condoms in his pocket and feeling a shudder go through his shoulders.

As his two strangers approached, he was able to see that they both had green eyes. One pair filled with the light of a smile and the other with amusement and a hint of a look Link had only seen once. In Alma’s eyes as he looked at Kanda, and asked Link to leave his own apartment.

And that look left a new kind of foreign feeling bubbling in his chest.

The one with the smile sat down next to Link, where Allen had been. “Tokusa,” he said. The other sat down across from Link, where Alma had been. “And that’s Madarao.”

Link looked at Tokusa as he felt a foot slide up his leg and his toes curled. “Howard,” he said, word tumbling out of his mouth, tinged with the desire to hear it nestled against a German accent.

“So, tell me, Howard,” Tokusa said, hand dragging across Link’s thigh, “does he do this for everyone?” Air rushed into Link’s lungs when Tokusa’s warm hand slipped into his pocket. “Or are you just special?” Tokusa finished pulling his hand out of Link’s pocket and holding up one of the condoms.

“I’m his cousin’s friend,” Link said, eyes on the condom wrapper crinkling between Tokusa’s fingers.

“That explains why they’re staring,” Madarao said.

Link attempted to process the words, but all his mind focused on was the warmth that accent filled his heart with.

“Then maybe we should give them something to look at,” Tokusa said and the condom dropped onto the table.

Before Link could look up on his own, he felt Tokusa’s warm fingers sliding into his braid and pulling him in for a kiss. The rough taste of alcohol teased at Link’s tongue, gone a moment later when Tokusa pulled away, hand still buried in Link’s hair.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Tokusa asked in German, fingers massaging Link’s scalp in slow circles.

“I-” Link lost track of his breaths when he felt Madarao’s hand brush against his leg. When he glanced over at Madarao, unable to move his head away from Tokusa’s fingers, Madarao was giving him that look again and Link understood why Alma had kicked him out. After swallowing to wet his throat, Link answered, “Yes.”

Tokusa’s hand slipped out of Link’s hair, tracing along the back of his neck before lacing his and Link’s fingers together. Link glanced at Alma, Allen, and Tyki as he was led outside.

Alma held his thumb up, giving Link a questioning look. Link gave a small nod and received three smiles in return.

“We don’t live too far from here,” Tokusa said, drawing Link into the feeling of holding his hand.

“Alright,” Link said into the cold, August air as they stepped outside. The street was quiet as they walked. The only sounds were the occasional pedestrian, and their feet scraping against the sidewalk.

Tokusa pulled Link into his own apartment building, but pressed the button for the third floor instead of the second once they were in the elevator. Link kept his eyes on the number as it ticked up to three, back pressed against the cold wall of the elevator.

The moment the elevator dinged, Tokusa dragged Link towards the doors even before they opened.

“Ever heard of patience?” Madarao asked as Tokusa ran out of the elevator, taking Link and his tripping feet with him.

“Have you looked at him?”

Link felt himself blushing at how loudly Tokusa had spoken, but also because no one had ever said anything like that about him.

“Good point,” Madarao said, pushing past them and unlocking the door, revealing an apartment that looked like Link’s own.

The light scent of peppermint was the first thing Link noticed as he entered the apartment. But, he wasn’t left with much time to dwell on anything else because Madarao kissed him. Slower, softer than Tokusa. His impossibly hot hands running gently across Link’s body contrasted the way Tokusa’s mouth was trailing hard kisses down Link’s neck.

Link barely heard the quiet ringing of his phone through his dizzy haze, but Madarao pulling away was enough to clear his head slightly. Link didn’t bother to check who it was before picking it up.

“Hello?”

“Need a rescue?” Alma asked as Madarao whispered something into Link’s other ear in German that registered as little more than _dirty_.

“I’m, um, going to have to call you back,” Link said, far too focused on the way Tokusa’s teeth were brushing against his collarbone. He never heard Alma’s response, but he did hear his phone hit the ground right after Madarao whispered his name into his ear as perfect as Link had imagined.

Not that it mattered when Tokusa’s hands were sliding underneath his shirt and sending shivers running up his spine.

* * *

When Link woke up, the first thing he registered was someone’s warm arm draped across his stomach and the muscular thighs he had laid marks on last night pressed against his hip.

And then he realized there was something sticking to his face and sunlight was filtering in through the curtain. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Madarao was gone, but Tokusa was asleep, hair a mess against his pillow.

Link pulled the sticky note from his forehead and read the fine handwriting through the sleep still blurring his vision.

_I went out to get bagels, shouldn’t take too long. Feel free to leave, but stay if you want to. Either way, you can use the shower, and if you do stay, make yourself at home. If that feels weird, you should at least borrow a shirt because our bunny rabbit peed on yours. That just means he likes you, though. Tokusa sleeps like the dead, so don’t worry about waking him up._

After glancing at Tokusa one last time, Link slipped out of the bed, feeling his skin slide against the still warm sheet, remembering the way Madarao felt pressed against him as he drifted off to sleep.

Link walked over to the bathroom and hovered in the doorway for a moment. He wondered if it was more polite to put on his clothes and leave, or more polite to at least accept the invitation of taking a shower.

Since there was no way he could suffer the embarrassment of going into the hall without a shirt on and with his hair in a mess from drying soaked in sweat, he walked into the bathroom and flipped the light on.

The artificial light stung his eyes, but once they adjusted, he noticed the many marks Tokusa had left all over his body. He knew he bruised easily, he just hadn’t realized how easily.

With the memories of all the things that had caused those marks, Link felt the unmistakable feeling of embarrassment settle heavy in his chest and thought it best to get on with showering so he could fix his hair and put some clothes on.

The feeling of hot water on his skin reminded him of the way Madarao’s hot breath being panted against his shoulder had felt. Running Tokusa’s conditioner through his hair reminded him of how soft Tokusa’s hair felt against his nose. The almond-vanilla scent drifting through the steam reminded Link of how it had lingered on his fingertips from having his hands buried in Tokusa’s hair for so long.

Once Link was clean, he turned the water off, shivering at the sudden cold air on his wet skin. He gathered his hair in his hands and squeezed it, water dropping to the shower floor in a steady rhythm.

His fingers slipped across his hair as he braided it, keeping his eyes on the polka dot shower curtain. When he was done, he kept two fingers pinching the end of his braid as he pulled back the shower curtain and stepped onto the cold tiled floor.

On the towel rack by the shower was his hair-tie and a note telling him to use whichever one he wanted, so he took the closest one after tying the end of his braid with the hair-tie.

Link padded his way through the living room and back into Tokusa and Madarao’s bedroom where Tokusa was still nestled beneath the covers and there was a note on top of Link’s pants on the dresser.

_If you see this first, your phone’s fine and it’s on the kitchen counter. And the shirts are in the second drawer._

Warmth filled Link’s heart when he realized these notes had all been laid out for him, giving him exactly what he needed regardless of if he stayed or not. Picking up the note and moving it aside, Link decided to stay to at least make them something to go with the bagels.

When Link pulled the shirt he was borrowing over his head, the scent of laundry detergent he had smelled last night while nipping at Madarao’s hipbone, hit his nose. The shirt hung down a few inches over the crinkled fabric of the pants he had worn the previous night, and the sleeves stopped mid-palm. Link’s fingers curled down to pull at the soft green fabric as he walked into the kitchen.

As promised, his phone was sitting on the kitchen counter, light from the window glinting off its surface. It reminded him that he had promised to call Alma back.

Before he called Alma, he saw that it was 8:34 in the morning.

“Hey, Link. Sex all you dreamed it would be?” Alma whispered, words crackling and sticking together.

“Is there a reason you’re being so quiet?” Link asked, voice equally soft, but smoother.

“I’ll answer when you do.” Even through the fuzziness Link could hear Alma’s smile.

“Yes,” Link said, remembering how they hadn’t made it past the living room before pulling each other’s clothes off, and feeling himself blushing again.

“I’m whispering because I ended up on Tyki and Allen’s couch last night because the one thing worse than sleeping in mine and Yuu’s bed alone is sleeping in that apartment alone. But we went to sleep sometime past five because Allen finally got a hold of Lavi and they talked for over an hour, and I don’t want to wake them up.”

Pain seeped into Link’s heart when he thought about the past couple weeks of Alma walking into his room and sitting on Lavi’s bed at odd hours of the night, talking about needing Kanda to come back from France soon. Thought about Allen talking to him about wondering what country Lavi was in so he could figure out when he might call.

“Anyways, heading home soon?”

The pain slipped away until only the faint whisper of it remained. “I was actually thinking of making something for them. I was invited to stay, but I’m not sure if I should accept.”

Alma’s laughter had Link smiling. “Link, you pointed out that I’m not qualified to give this kind of advice, but I love when you cook me breakfast, so I can’t imagine them complaining.”

“Kanda complains.”

“Yuu complains about everything. Okay, bye.” Silence filled Link’s ear before he could come up with a response, let alone voice it.

With a sigh, Link set his phone back on the counter. He looked around the kitchen, thinking about how Madarao had told him to make himself at home, and he thought about how Alma said they would probably appreciate breakfast. He stared at the white fridge and wondered if it would be rude to use their food.

The thought of going back to his own apartment to grab some food made his stomach twist because he doubted he would come back if he left.

Now he realized that accepting to stay was the only option that didn’t leave him feeling uncomfortable. He wanted to talk to them more now that they weren’t half-asleep and they could speak above a soft whisper.

He looked over when he heard the door open, and saw Madarao walking towards the kitchen, holding a large paper bag. “I hope you weren’t waiting too long. It seems that everyone wanted bagels this morning,” he said, stopping next to Link and putting the bag on the counter.

“No, not at all,” Link said, staring at the bag as Madarao pulled it open with a loud crinkling sound. “I was thinking of making something.”

Link looked away from the bag as Madarao let go of it, and watched as Madarao walked over to the fridge. He opened it and stepped aside, revealing a bottle of ketchup, a loaf of bread, and a container full of something Link couldn’t quite see.

“Or not,” Link said, turning to look towards Madarao and Tokusa’s bedroom when he heard feet shuffling.

“Thanks for the super flattering note, Madarao,” Tokusa said, waltzing out of the room. He smiled when he saw Link, turning his feet slightly to walk over to him. “You stayed.”

“Yes, I did.” Link heard the fridge close.

“The note wasn’t for you,” Madarao said, footsteps tapping along the hardwood floor.

Tokusa looked slightly above Link, lips still up in a smile, and stuck his tongue out. When his eyes traveled down to Link’s, his tongue went limp, sliding back into his mouth. “You have really nice eyes. I didn’t notice before, but they’re almost red.”

Link was only able to press his tongue past his teeth as the start of a thank you before Tokusa's nose was buried in his hair.

“Did you use my shampoo and conditioner?” Tokusa asked, pulling away. Link didn’t bother with trying to respond, he simply sighed and waited for Tokusa to continue. “I’ll take that as a yes. Well, you’re hot, so do whatever you want.”

Too taken aback by the way his heart was racing at the compliment, Link didn't realize Tokusa's naked body had been mere inches away from him until Tokusa closing the bathroom door snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Can’t say I disagree,” Madarao said, hand reaching past Link to take the bag of bagels. “I didn’t know what to get you, but from what you said last night, you like sweet things as much as my sister, so I just got you what she usually gets. But if you don’t want it, that’s fine, too. I’m sure she’ll eat it when she gets back later today.”

Link felt that familiar warmth spread through his heart. “Thank you,” he said, even though it didn’t feel like enough. Thoughts about a more appropriate thank you began to form in his head, but then he heard his phone ringing. “Sorry,” he said, looking down at the counter as he picked it up. As he answered it, he noticed the note that had been by his phone had two numbers on it.

_Just in case._

“Link?” Lenalee yelled.

“Yes,” he replied, wincing, “I’m here.”

“Sorry. Um, I know we weren’t supposed to get back until later today and Alma was supposed to pick us up, but we just got off the plane and Alma’s not answering.”

Link glanced up at Madarao, who was holding a small, white paper bag out for Link. “I’ll be right there.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.” He hoped the disappointment he was feeling hadn’t slipped into his tone. With a sigh, he put his phone in his pocket, fingers brushing against paper.

There was a subtle smile on Madarao’s lips as Link pulled out the small note.

_If Madarao likes you as much as I think he does, he probably left you a million of these (he does it for me and Tewaku all the time), but I wanted to leave you one, too, in case you leave before I wake up or I forget to say this. Regardless of if we ever see you again, don’t forget that you’re an amazing person. I just figured you don’t hear it often because you look so shocked every time I compliment you._

Link couldn’t stop that foreign feeling in his stomach as he looked down at the sloppily written note, lips twitching up into a smile.

“Do you want the numbers and the bagel?”

“Yes,” Link curled his hand around the note, sharp edges of the paper pressing against his palm, “I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)


End file.
